Do you know who ‘Grace’ is?
If you don’t, it’s perfectly OK because no one knows who she is. Except Babe magazine and Aziz Ansari. However the truth is that Grace has done more to wreck the #Me Too movement than anyone in the world. She and Babe magazine took a mostly consensual date gone wrong and peddled it on the Internet as a criminal rape to go after one of the world’s best known comedians. It got Babe 8,00,000 likes on Facebook, but it got everyone else in the world wondering what the truth is?
So now that’s the bigger story.
Whose truth is it anyway?
And I’m not talking about Fake News – that one is easy – it’s truth vs lies!
This is about versions of truth. Truth V.10. Truth V.20. Also Truth V.2.1!
Yesterday I read an article about a road rage incident carefully. It talked about a Scorpio that had lightly brushed against a motorcycle and moved on. Then the two guys on the motorcycle raced and caught up with the vehicle and brought it to a stop. They started a verbal war with the guys in the car which led to a stabbing.
But wait a minute. Dial it back. How can a Scorpio brush lightly against a motorcycle? It’s almost like saying an elephant brushed against a rabbit.
So there you have it. Truth V.1.1. Inflexions and Insinuations. Facts twisted ever so slightly but oh! so effectively.
How is this different from lies?
I think Versions of Truth are more about what is left out than what is told. And sometimes, just leaving out one thing can change an entire story.
Who wants the truth anyway? It’s mostly so boring. It doesn’t sell newspapers or get you clicks and forwards. It doesn’t even get you to be the President of
America – ask Hillary Clinton.
Girl and Guy go on a date that turns slightly wrong. Road Rage was equal fault of both parties. Politician thought of taking bribe but didn’t. Cricketer gave opinion on pitch to bookie but fell way short of illegal activity. Actress had done R-rated but not X- rated film.
Yawn. Who cares? Nobody is going to buy!
Probably the last guy to tell the truth and nothing but the truth was Gandhi. It was cool way back then.
Four years back when I began my startup I started trying to do it. I said to myself, I’m not sure what I’ll have in life from now on. I may have money, I may not.
I may have health or I may not. I may have realisation or I may not. But I’m going to make sure that I have truth. And always tell the truth. To others. But mainly to myself.
I guess I may be getting somewhere. This last week I finished a series of meetings on an important deal. After the final meeting the head of a billion-dollar-fund had a one-on-one with me. He asked a number of searching questions.
Then he came to a final one and said ‘you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want because you’re so … so …
I waited. He waited. He searched for the words. Then he said ‘… so ruthlessly honest.’
We both smiled.
Truth V.0. A foundation for a great partnership!